Ever get tired of chasing people for overdue tasks? Or worse, realize you missed a follow-up because you lost track in your inbox? If you’re running projects and want less herding-cats and more getting-things-done, this guide is for you. We’ll walk through how to set up automated reminders and follow-ups in Rocketlane so you can spend less time nagging and more time actually moving projects forward.
Whether you’re onboarding new customers, managing client projects, or wrangling internal teams, you’ll get practical ways to make Rocketlane do the reminding for you—without annoying everyone (including yourself).
Why automate reminders in Rocketlane?
Let’s be honest: most people don’t love sending (or receiving) reminder emails. But when tasks slip, projects stall. Automating reminders takes the awkwardness and forgetfulness out of the process. Here’s what you get out of it:
- Consistency: Everyone gets the nudge at the right time, every time.
- Less manual effort: You set it up once, and Rocketlane handles the rest.
- No more “Sorry, I missed this”: Well, fewer of those, at least.
- More time for real work: Spend less time chasing, more time doing.
That said, automated reminders aren’t magic. They only work if you set them up thoughtfully. Done wrong, they’re just more noise. The trick is to set up just enough automation to help—without annoying your team or clients.
Step 1: Get your Rocketlane workspace ready
Before you even touch automation, make sure Rocketlane is set up for how you want to track work. You can only automate what you can track.
- Set up your projects and templates: Don’t wing it—use Rocketlane’s project templates if you run similar projects over and over.
- Define clear tasks: Generic tasks (“do the thing”) are hard to track and even harder to remind about. Be specific.
- Assign tasks: Automated reminders only go to people assigned to tasks. If no one owns it, no one gets reminded.
Pro tip: If your tasks feel too vague or generic, that’s a bottleneck. Tighten up your task lists before you worry about reminders.
Step 2: Enable and customize task reminders
Rocketlane has built-in automated reminders for overdue tasks and upcoming deadlines. Here’s how to set them up without turning your project into a spam factory.
2.1. Setting up default reminders
- Go to Settings > Reminders & Notifications.
- Find “Task Reminders.” This is where you control who gets notified, and when.
- Choose your default schedule:
- Upcoming due reminders: Send a heads-up a certain number of days before a task is due.
- Overdue reminders: Send nudges when tasks slip past their due date.
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Repeat reminders: Choose if reminders should keep going until the task is done, or just send once.
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Pick who gets reminders:
- The person assigned to the task (usually a good idea).
- Task owners (if you use this field).
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Project managers (sometimes, but don’t overdo it).
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Save your settings.
What works: Reminders a day or two before the due date are helpful. Overdue reminders every day? Annoying. Once every few days is enough.
2.2. Customizing reminders for specific projects
Not every project needs the same reminder cadence. Client-facing projects might need different nudges than internal ones.
- Go to the project’s settings.
- Override the default reminder schedule for that project.
- Adjust message content if you want—keep it short and clear.
Pro tip: If a client is sensitive to too many emails, dial reminders way down or use in-app notifications instead.
Step 3: Use task comments and @mentions for manual follow-ups
Sometimes automation isn’t enough. If someone’s really stuck (or ignoring reminders), a human nudge works better than another automated email.
- Use task comments for personalized follow-ups. It keeps the conversation tied to the work.
- @mention teammates or clients to get their attention. They’ll get a notification.
- Set a reminder for yourself (yes, you too) on key tasks so nothing falls through.
What to ignore: Don’t rely on endless automated reminders to fix process problems. If people keep ignoring tasks, figure out why.
Step 4: Automate recurring follow-up tasks
Some follow-ups aren’t tied to task deadlines—they’re just things you do every week or month (like weekly check-ins, monthly updates, or QA reviews). Rocketlane can help here, too.
- Create a recurring task template:
- In your project template, add tasks like “Weekly status update” or “Monthly client check-in.”
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Set them to recur on your chosen schedule.
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Assign these to the right people (yourself, team members, or clients).
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Reminders will trigger automatically based on the due date and your reminder settings.
Pro tip: Don’t create recurring tasks unless they’re actually useful. If you find yourself marking “Weekly check-in” as done without doing anything, kill it.
Step 5: Tuning notification channels
Not everyone likes email. Some prefer Slack, others like in-app notifications. Rocketlane supports multiple channels for reminders.
- Go to Settings > Notification Preferences.
- Let users choose if they want reminders by email, in-app, or via Slack (if you’ve integrated it).
- Encourage your team/clients to adjust their preferences so reminders actually get seen.
Honest take: No notification system is perfect. Some people will mute or ignore everything. But if you give options, you’ll annoy fewer people.
Step 6: Reviewing and improving your automation
Set it and forget it? Not quite. Automation works best when you tweak it as you go.
- Check the “Reminders” activity log in Rocketlane to see who’s getting reminded and what’s being ignored.
- Ask your team or clients if the reminders are helpful or just noise.
- Tweak your settings if you notice people missing deadlines or complaining about too many emails.
What doesn’t work: Over-reminding. If people get too many notifications, they’ll tune them out—or, worse, complain to you.
Common pitfalls (and how to avoid them)
Let’s be real—automation can backfire if you’re not careful. Watch out for these:
- Too many reminders: One reminder is helpful. Five in a week is a fast way to the spam folder.
- Reminding the wrong people: Double-check task assignments. If everyone gets reminders for things they’re not responsible for, they’ll stop paying attention.
- Generic tasks: If tasks aren’t specific, people ignore reminders because they don’t know what to do.
- Forgetting to update tasks: Reminders don’t help if people forget to mark things as done. Make updating tasks part of your process.
Pro tips for using Rocketlane reminders without annoying everyone
- Customize reminder messages. A friendly, specific note beats the default “Task overdue” every time.
- Batch your reminders. If you’re a project manager, review overdue tasks in bulk, then check in manually where it matters.
- Use reminder analytics. Rocketlane can show you which reminders get acted on. Adjust from there.
- Don’t rely on automation alone. For critical tasks, a quick call or Slack message gets better results than any automated email.
Keep it simple—and keep improving
Automating reminders and follow-ups in Rocketlane isn’t a silver bullet. But if you set it up thoughtfully, you’ll spend less time chasing people and more time actually getting work done. Start small, tweak as you go, and don’t be afraid to turn things off if they’re not helping. The goal isn’t more reminders—it’s fewer dropped balls.
Got a process that works better? Change it. Trying to please everyone? Don’t bother. Just make sure your reminders serve you, not the other way around.